By State Rep. Brooks Landgraf
If Texas was a cake, Permian Basin crude oil would be a necessary ingredient to bake that cake. You don’t get the Texas we all know and love today without it. And as far as I’m concerned, Texas as we know it wouldn’t exist without oil and gas.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to any energy source that’s supported by a free market. And heaven knows, we have plenty of wind and sunshine here in the Permian Basin.
However, history has proven time and time again that oil and natural gas are simply the cheapest and most efficient ways to produce energy across the globe. If you have compassion for those impoverished nations without access to clean water or electricity, oil and natural gas are a big part of the answer. If you want to see the United States continue to be a global force for good, oil and natural gas are freedom’s fuels.
That’s why I’m thankful to be chairman of the Texas House Environmental Regulation Committee. European socialists and DC liberals are fighting tooth and nail to bring the Texas oil industry to its knees, so I’m honored to have a position of responsibility to defend our state’s most vital industry and the West Texas way of life. And as you know, I take my role seriously.
Earlier this month, AOC was in San Antonio claiming that turning Texas blue was inevitable. (I’m not sure what numbers she’s seeing, but they’re not the numbers I’m looking at.) The “Green New Deal” champion will prove to be just as mistaken in her attempt to forecast Texas political winds as she is in her predictions of the planet’s future weather patterns.
As chairman of the House Environmental Regulation Committee, I squashed attempts to pass Green New Deal bills filed during the 2021 Texas legislative sessions. No bill that contained provisions of the Green New Deal or that could otherwise harm Texas industries made it out of my committee.
I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but it is, of course, possible to oppose AOC’s Green New Deal and still want a clean and safe environment. The two are not mutually exclusive. Texas is beautiful. I get to see a lot of that beauty when I drive from one end of West Texas to the other, and down to the Texas Capitol building in Austin. For one reason or another, I’ve been blessed to visit just about every corner of our great big beautiful state. Texas is indeed great, and I want to keep it that way. That’s why I kill bad bills and pass good bills, like HB 4472 and HB 7, both bills that allow Texas to balance our environment and our economy in a way that’s beneficial to both
As the 2022 primary election draws to a close and we transition to the general election, my hope is that Texas voters will continue to be mindful of the importance of oil and gas to our state. It’s not just about jobs or GDP in Texas, it is about public education funding, money to make our highways safer, the state’s Rainy Day fund, and so much more.
It seems like a decade ago now, but every American voter would do well to remember what it felt like in 2019 when the Saudi Aramco oil facilities were attacked and the US economy didn’t skip a beat. As gas prices went up across the globe, they stayed steady in the United States because of Permian Basin oil production.
For Texas and the U.S. to be at their best, the Permian Basin needs to be humming. We have the opportunity for energy independence and we must seize the day now.
It’s been more than a century since the Santa Rita No. 1 first struck oil in the Permian Basin. Since then, Texas oil has helped the United States win two world wars and a cold war on our way to becoming the most dominant super power in human history. To willingly give that up is ludicrous, especially when we have had a taste of what energy independence could be like.
I will not be complacent. I will continue to fight in every way possible to protect Texas energy jobs, the bedrock of the American Dream.
My advice to the new generation of Texas leaders who are seeking election or voting for the first time in 2022: “dance with the one who brung ya,” Texas black gold.
God bless Texas!
